LONGMONT -- Candles flickered and lit the faces of dozens of mourners who gathered to remember a Denver teenager who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on New Year's Eve.

Monday would have been Jason Grimmer's 17th birthday.

Those gathered sang a quiet rendition of "Happy Birthday to You." Many wept.

Cara Tedeschi, Jason's mother, struggled through tears for much of her son's remembrance. She said he was "one of a kind" and cared primarily about his family.

No one has been charged in the hit-and-run crash that claimed the teenager's life on New Year's Eve.

Cara Tedeschi mother of Jason Grimmer, who was killed on New Year s Eve in an unsolved hith-and-run crash places a candle at a memorial on the 2200 block of Main Street on Monday night. Monday would have been Grimmer s 17th birthday.
(
Matthew Jonas
)

According to police, Grimmer was with a group of white men and boys who clashed with a group of black men after an exchange of words earlier in the evening. Police reported that the group Grimmer was with used racially charged language with a black man who was initially alone.

Officers called to the initial disturbance broke everyone up and sent them on their way. But, they reported, the black man called friends who came to the area and a physical fight ensued on the 2200 block of Main Street.

Grimmer tried to run, according to reports, and was hit in the street.

Shortly after the crash, investigators arrested an 18-year-old woman who was related to men in the fight. She was jailed, but was released after police determined she had nothing to do with the crash and was at church at the time.

Longmont policed reported last month that a surveillance video shows headlights during the hit and run, but the picture is too blurry to even determine the type of vehicle that hit Grimmer. Sources close to the investigation reported that a grand jury will investigate the case.

"Of course, we want somebody to come forward with some information about what happened to him," Tedeschi said. "Of course we want to keep this from happening to somebody else."

Rachel Waltz, 17, Jason's aunt, was raised with Jason and said he was the best brother anyone could ask for. She said he stuck up for everybody and was always an ally.

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